Hop Notes 01: 2022 USDA Hop Report

Expert analysis to help you make better hop decisions.

Jan 23, 2023

Welcome to Hop Notes

I’m Eric. I care a lot about farmers and hops. I made the Hop Notes newsletter to help you make better hop decisions. Hop Notes will be delivered once a month with analysis of current topics and trends in the United States hop industry.

Review of the annual 2022 USDA National Hop Report.

The 2022 USDA National Hop Report is out (linked here). Here are 3+ highlights:

1. Oregon Crystal acreage is out of the (D)ungeon!

Crystal added 32 additional acres in Oregon this year. Keeping it free from the (D) label (used to avoid disclosing data for individual operations), for the second year running! Will Crystal defy fate and grow again into 2024?
1.1: Cascade in Idaho grew from 479 to 845 acres! Expect this growth to stabilize next year. Party on grandma.
1.2: Centennial acreage climbed slightly in both WA and OR after a number of years of decline, yields were mixed however.
1.2: Sterling lost about half of its already tiny acreage share (58 to 35). If you love or rely on this hop, contract for it or it may be a thing of the past.

2. El Dorado®️ and Idaho 7®️ market corrections continue.

After being some of the biggest losers of strung acreage in this summer’s acres strung report, it is not surprising to see reported acres in these varieties fall in both WA and ID. It is worth noting that the marketing rights for Idaho 7®️ were recently purchased by Yakima Chief Hops, to see the acreage fall after that acquisition is not what I expected to see given their marketing power.
2.1: Special mention of Sabro™️ which also saw double digit declines across OR and WA. I think the best days of the coconut sunscreen hop are behind it.
2.2: Strata®️ was one of the biggest acreage gainers in the proprietary hop world, up 37% over last year. Strawberries for all!

3. US acreage share continues shift towards private.

Total privately controlled acres increased slightly from 62.8% in 2021 to 64.1% in 2022. Total acres planted in public varieties declined slightly from 37.1% in 2021 to 35.8% in 2022.
3.1: Acres controlled by a single entity, Hop Breeding Company (HBC) (a JV between Yakima Chief Hops and Haas) made up 38.8% of total US acreage, eclipsing the total amount of acres planted in public varieties for the first time. Of that 38.8% in HBC controlled varieties, about 80% was either Citra®️ or Mosaic®️.

More hop content:

McKenzie™️ hops were released this year by the West Coast Hop Breeding Company, lots of nice background on the hop in Haas’ highlight video.
Each year I review my rub notes from the past 12 months and highlight the Best of Hops, in 2022 my top three picks were USDA-333, Nectaron®️, and Vista.
The inspiration for Hop Notes is Stan Hieronymus’ excellent Hop Queries. If you like Hop Notes, Hop Queries will blow your mind.

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That’s all for now. If you have topics you’d like to read about in Hop Notes my inbox is open 24/7: ericsannerud@gmail.com.